


Colour changing string

by australia_mate



Category: Dan Howell - Fandom, Harry Styles - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angsty start but lots of fluff in the end dw, Dan's a bit down, Fluff, Gay, I Will Go Down With This Ship, M/M, Our brit boys, Pretty cute, Rare Pair, Rare Pairings, bit of swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-24
Updated: 2020-07-24
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:21:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25486183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/australia_mate/pseuds/australia_mate
Summary: Everyone is born with a chameleon like string tied around their pinky. The end leads to your soulmate, and it disappears once you encounter them. It changes colour to your and your soulmate's emotions-Dan calls bs. He's 29 and no sign of any 'forever lover' yet. He'd given up ages ago, deciding to focus on his career rather than thesedelusions.
Relationships: Dan Howell/Harry Styles
Kudos: 7





	Colour changing string

An audible sigh fell through Dan's lips as he watched London's gloomy and grey buildings fly past. Resting his head on his hand against the glass, he watched with bored, dull, deep caramel eyes. His mind  
filled with not very kind thoughts made him sigh yet another time, yet quieter and fogging up the window slightly.

Phil looked over with knowing eyes, and bumped his friend's knee gently with his own, letting Dan know he was there. 

Dan cracked a smile back for Phil's satisfaction, silently communicating that he was alright. Though he kept the next sigh that he wanted to voice to himself as regretted the cause behind Phil's reaction. He had confided to Phil late at night after a too-long session of playing animal crossing about his 'soulmate problem'. 

Ever since then, Phil had become more alert to his friend's moods and kept a close eye on him whenever he saw him play with the ever colour changing string wrapped translucently around his pinky.

A ghost of a smile flickered on Dan's face from the thought of what it was tied to on the other end of his string before he readjusted his position in the passenger seat of the uber and let his dark thoughts run.

Dan found himself more and more in these states, and it wasn't depression, his meds didn't take care of this. How could chemicals and binds fix a gnawing hole in your soul? These feelings and similar ones were felt quite commonly among people who hadn't yet found their soulmates.

The word, soulmate, was a fake promise. It was a concept, an idea, just beyond arms reach; always mocking. 3 years ago, Dan stopped believing that there was a perfect someone out there for himself, all for him and that he was all for somebody else. It was the average age of 20 to find your soulmate. But now, at 29, it truly did seem like all of that was false. 

That the extraordinary moment, people described when they met their soulmate was fake, all of their worries and heartache washing away. It just didn't exist. The described feeling of immense love falling on you didn't exist-- it was a literal fairy tale. 

Coming to terms with this did absolutely nothing close to comfort for Dan; it only deepened the constant pain in his chest, making him nearly feel physically ill on his bad bad days. 

Some days he felt almost jealous of Phil, as he had met a lovely lady named Ella only just a year ago; everyone around them instantly knew they were soulmates from the very moment they met. It nearly vanquished his idea that soulmates didn't exist, until he realised he was the exception, he didn't get one. He wasn't one.

It was all he yearned for, though, for someone he could love with with all of his heart; all he wanted was to be held, all he wanted to do was to hold someone, and for someone else to love him for him. The dream was to let down every shield and be himself, fully.

And it didn't help that even his parents weren't soulmates. His mother had become tired of waiting around and wanted children, so she found his father, and they went into a loveless marriage. 

Was that the reason he couldn't find his soulmate? Because he was a product of nature's ignorance and mistake? Dan let out an irritable huff from the new realisation, his mood worsening.

It was all a stupid trick, it didn't happen to everyone as people preached. It was obvious it would never happen to him. 

Dan lifted his right hand and shot a pointed look to the taunting string tied softly around his pinky. It kept flickering between yellow and orange. A long time ago, when young ol' him was starstruck by the idea of his very own soulmate, he learnt with textbooks what all the colours meant. 

A quick run-through was that red was anger, orange was anxiety, yellow was excitement, green was jealousy, light blue was calm, dark blue was sadness, purple was contentment, pink was love, and black was a general colour for a mental illness affecting someone.

And with his string's orange and yellow, this told him that his 'soulmate' was pretty excited but also stomach-churning nervous at the same time. 'At least they're happy.' He thought bitterly, before clamping down on his anguish.

His 'soulmate' could no doubt see their string flicker a deep blue of sadness and a splash of red. Dan ghosted a smile, amused by his self-depreciation, knowing all too well that lately from his emotions it'd be showing a lot of dark blue and red hues for his 'soulmate' 

But Dan didn't want his 'soulmate' to worry, didn't want anyone to worry. They probably had their own problems, you know? 

And if they never met, Dan didn't want to bring down their mood simply because of him, a stranger, being unhappy or mad and having it broadcasted obviously via their string. That'd be plain rude. Blame his British upbringing.

Although, Dan guessed, he'd been giving his soulmate quite a fright over the past few years, with depression and his... committing suicide thoughts. 'Don't wanna worry a person that I'll most likely never meet.'

"Dan?" Phil's calling broke the aforementioned male out of his thoughts, who turned his head to meet Phil. 

"Yeah?" Phil gave his friend a comforting smile, doe blue eyes gentle, before nodding outside and to Dan's realisation the car was slowing down, "We're here." He announced.

Dan forced a smile, insecurities telling him to act the part and that he was fine. "Right, I knew that. Ready to meet your idol?" "I was a kid, Dan. Everyone had a crush on him." Phil shot back, mocking hurt. 

The smile became real as Dan chuckled at Phil. "My apologies, Lester. Let's go meet the god of your dreams-" Phil smacked Dan's shoulder, "Don't even finish that sentence." 

Dan laughed, shaking his head, and got out of the car, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his skinny black jeans, breath visible in the English air. He took in a deep breath, remembering what his therapist told him, and took stock of what was around him; what he could feel, smell, and hear.

"Come on, or else we won't get a spot!" Phil pulled Dan forward when he was done dealing with the driver who was now driving away quietly, holding his hand, who dragged his feet in retaliation behind him. "Spot. What spot. It's a mob, Phil, you don't get a spot."

The already large crowd of fans held back by the cheaply rented metal fence kept on screaming and whooping, high and climbing anticipation insanely obvious. It sent a bolt of anxiety straight through the tall Brit's body at seeing the large crowd. 

"How long will we be here?" Dan whispered, pressing himself up against Phil, who led him through the mainly young teenage girl crowd. 

"We'll be right out of here once I meet or see Harry. He probably won't have enough time to have a thorough conversation with me, us, cause this is only a pit stop for his tour." Phil explained, running a hand through his quiff excitedly. Dan, even through his determination to hate being here, felt lighter at seeing his friend's happiness.

But Dan found it somewhat comical when he noticed how they towered over the main abundance of teens. His anxiety simmered down a bit from seeing people his age, uncomfortable being around so many teenagers.

"Right..." Dan mumbled and kept his head down, brown curls falling in front of his vision. Still, with Dan's disappearance on Youtube and his social anxieties, he felt very out of place here and knew everything would turn to shit if someone recognised him.

Phil let go of his friend's hand once he found himself leaning on the fence, hands clasped on excitement. "Tell me what's so good of Harry Styles that led me here to this predicament." Dan scowled, his body taught and limbs close to himself. 

"Oh come on, you know his affiliation with 1 Direction, we both loved them. Harry is literally the best person out there, his accent is to die for-" 

"His accent is the same as ours." Dan deadpanned, yet the remark wasn't enough to discourage Phil's bright and bubbly attitude; who continued as if he didn't hear him.

"He's like the best person to be around, and seems like the nicest and most respectful person out there." Dan rolled his eyes at his friend's praise.

"I know, I've seen the crazy comments on his Instagram posts and tweets. Especially the youtube edits his fans make of him..." Dan grimaced; remembering when he skyrocketed to internet fame his own edits came. Phil hummed his agreement, before turning back to leaning on the fence excitedly.

With such an extravagant description of the man they were soon to meet, Dan felt momentary uncertainty. His and Phil's fangirling over 1 Direction flooded his mind, memories previously buried. He was going to see soon the man 2010 Dan adored. Dan scoffed and looked around awkwardly, desperately wishing he were somewhere else.

"Shine a light! Look!" Dan tried to follow Phil's line of sight but was blocked off by the surge of people suddenly doing the same. Dan guessed Harry was here if the clamour from the people around him was to go by anything.

Dan felt the ball of uneasiness and apprehension grow in him grow. Meeting any celebrity would do that to you. He hated this, all he wanted to do was go back to their apartment and rest comfortably on his sofa where he could continue moulding his spine from the crease in the sofa.

But upon seeing Phil's absurdly large and bright grin he managed to settle some of his butterflies. 'I'm here for Phil, remember, you'd do anything for Phil.' Dan convinced himself, while also giving himself a good dose of 'it's stupid to be anxious over this.'

So, even though he could easily look over the heads of everyone to see the beloved celebrity, Dan awkwardly looked down and played with the stupid string on his finger.

The string still flashed yellow and orange, but the yellow was much brighter than the orange, and Dan felt happiness for his soulmate. 'I wonder why they're so happy.' A wave of sorrow fell over him from knowing he wouldn't ever be the source of that happiness, and yet his eyes widened at seeing a sliver of dark blue appear on his string. 'Fuck.' Dan locked his jaw and forced himself to not feel like shit.

Though Dan still stared down at the string like it had destroyed his will to live (and honestly, it kinda had).

However, while Dan was so engrossed in his own world, Phil gasped minutely with such a kiddish type of excitement it'd make anyone smile, seeing how close the Harry Styles was. 

The man was smiling happily, although a bit drawn back to his fans, and signing whatever they gave him. Phil's bright blue eyes shone in joy as Harry came to him.

"Oh my gosh, hi! I've been a big fan of yours, your musicisabsolutelybrilliant!" Phil rushed out, barely making out his words without a stutter, mind blown with how close he was to his teen crush. 

"Thank you very much, I'm happy you like my music so much," Harry said sincerely, his nervousness meeting all his fans ebbing away as he got into the full swing of it. 

"So, yeah, been listening to you for a while, both of us-" "Us?" Harry questioned, before being momentarily distracted by another fan wanting him to sign something, and turned back to meet the taller man. 

Phil nodded, "Us, me, Phil, and Dan. Dan?" Phil turned around and poked his friend excitedly on the shoulder.

Nothing could prepare Dan as he looked up to Phil, already preparing to make a snide or annoying comment. That urge of action fell away as another urge took its place, as he felt an irresistible pull to look behind Phil. Dan sidestepped around Phil, curious. The string around his pinky tightened, heating up, and Dan's heart skipped a beat. 'What?-'

Dan's mind went blank. Shocked caramel eyes met surprised yet calmed emerald green ones. Harry felt a grin form on his face as he looked up to the tall male, feeling a wave of unmissable, pure love, and affection to him. 'Soulmate.' The word resonated within Harry. Their strings pulled tight and Dan was tugged forward, making Harry laugh out loud as he was also pulled forward.

Being closer, Harry met his soulmates gaze fiercely, being unbelievably happy, and forgot how to breathe as he saw beautiful curls of chocolate hair slightly fall over just as beautiful caramel eyes; saw how tall his soulmate was; saw how just fucking amazing and brilliant his soulmate was.

Harry saw the soulmate that kept him up at 2 am, fretting over how dark blue his string was, how flashes of ivory black inked its way over it. He saw the soulmate whom he waited so long for, yearned for. He saw his soulmate through and through and loved every bit of him.

And he did not feel one ounce of bitterness at how long his soulmate made him wait, as all Harry could think was 'Oh my god'.

Harry wouldn't and probably couldn't stop what he said next, a blush creeping up his neck and ears.

"Oh my, I never thought my soulmate would be so undeniably handsome, Dan." Harry's flirtatious words drugged Dan, hearing his name setting his body on fire. 

"I-I..." Dan didn't know what to say. This couldn't be real, right? The world fell away around the two, the excited murmuring of the fans dulling down to a low hum. How could Harry Styles be his soulmate? He couldn't stop looking over Harry, heart full yet still confused.

A soft blush formed on Harry's cheeks as he felt his soulmate's eyes roam over him, fiddling with the marker in his hands, which snapped Dan back into reality. Slight embarrassment crept over Dan for a second as he realised he had stared at Harry for too long before it was crushed by the happiest and giddiest laugh he'd ever heard.

"You're really here!" Harry found his voice again and the man laughed, elation in his chest suffocating his senses. He nearly wanted to cry from happiness. 

"I'm really here," Dan confirmed softly, and it only fell onto Harry's ears. A sudden drive to finally make sure his soulmate was real coursed through his body. 

Thank god for the gaps between the metal fences, it was large enough for someone to shimmy past, and that's exactly what Dan did. 

Harry laughed out so joyfully and quickly hugged his soulmate as soon as Dan was on his side, his laughter Dan knowing he would chase forever for that sound, and he hugged back just as tightly. 

The singer's laugh was expectedly music to his ears. Electricity sparked up and down Dan's body, both from the knowledge he was hugging his soulmate and the Harry Styles.

They stayed in each other's embrace for a second, Harry marvelling at how warm his soulmate was, how amazing it felt for the taller one to surround him completely. 

It soothed his soul especially to hear his heartbeat loudly in his ear, some nights and days Harry feared from the nearly all-black string it'd stop. He could never stop looking at it when it was such that dark shade of blue and light-sucking black; even if he was performing, he'd have the microphone up to his face just so he could keep an eye on it.

Harry, ignoring the hush from the crowd, pulled back, still keeping a tight grip around Dan's waist and back, and touched their foreheads together, looking into his soulmate's gorgeous brown eyes, whispering, "I'm so happy I found you. I thought I'd never find you. But here you are. And I'll never let you out of my sight again, because goddamnit I already love you."

A dark blush adorned Dan's face, coupled in with the hand stroking his cheek adoringly. "M-Me too." He could barely get out, yet grinned his signature smile as Harry laughed, enamoured by his dimples.

"Can't believe my soulmate is Harry Styles though.." Dan added with his newfound confidence, chuckling as Harry blushed. There was something lovely about being the reason for Harry's blush.

Even though they probably had to pull away soon and deal with the crowd watching and filming and the most likely fangirling Phil, Dan gently kissed Harry's cheek, feeling like a river of unadulterated love raining down on him. 

He felt so giddy, for the first time in his life. He felt addicted to the spark travelling down his body when he kissed Harry's cheek. Harry grinned largely, and hugged Dan tightly again, feeling over the moon from the affection.

That mere expression directed to him and he only made Dan think his depression was just eradicated. Harry, on the other hand, felt fucked as he knew he, not even joking around, was already head over heels for the tall British boy enveloping him. That kiss, and it wasn't even a kiss, felt like a lightning strike to him and Harry was already ready to experience more and give more. 

With all of Dan's bold black clothing clashing against Harry's flamboyant Hawaiian shirt and white jeans, the world seemed to stop yet again. It was just them, and that was all that mattered right now.

Soulmates were real, and this stupidly fantastic bundle of energy that was stuck to his hip was his. Dan decided, as he begrudgingly pulled away because of the crowds slow come to, that the wait was worth everything as he looked down on Harry. 

And as he saw what he was able to cherish for as long as he lived, and as his heart thumped with pure happiness, Dan decided that Phil just got demoted. Harry was number one on the list of people he loved. Harry would always be number one.

""I love you."" They both whispered at the same time, large grins on their face.

**Author's Note:**

> Friend gave me this idea, what do you think? I hope you enjoyed this little fic, I quite like this ship now.
> 
> Stay safe and quarantined.


End file.
